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Geospatial PDFs and Mobile Apps

When you open a Geospatially enabled PDF (geoPDF) map, you can find locations, measure distances, and add location markers. You can also copy coordinates to the clipboard for use with a web mapping service.

To use a geoPDF on your computer internet access is required; broadband access is highly recommended. Adobe® Reader® or comparable PDF viewing software is required. Reader may be downloaded for free at https://get.adobe.com/reader/. Adobe Acrobat® may be used in lieu of Adobe Reader.

Once the map is open in Reader, you can find locations, measure distances, and add location markers. You can also copy coordinates to the clipboard for use with a web mapping service. View the geospatial measuring tools by choosing Tools > Measure. Use the Geospatial Location tool to perform these tasks: View latitude and longitude while the cursor is over an area containing geospatial information, mark a location with a geospatial annotation, search for a location in a document.

You can also load these maps on to any GPS-enabled mobile device using an app such as Avenza Maps (we recommend carrying a paper map as backup). The Avenza Maps app is a geospatial PDF, GeoPDF®and GeoTIFF reader for your Apple iOS, Android, and Windows smartphones and tablets.

Many maps are available in the Avenza Map Store. Easily search for and interact with spatially referenced maps to view your location, record GPS tracks, add placemarks, and find places.

If the map is not available in the Map Store, you can load up to three maps for free in the app, copy the map url from our website, open the PDF Maps app and tap the + button at the top-right of the maps list. In the ‘From the Web’ box, paste the URL into the box to download and process the map. Once loaded, you can use your device's built-in GPS to track your location on the map, plot and record information about locations, import and export placemarks, measure distance and area, and even plot photos.